^Indeed...if, as speculated by some, the name and number had been changed to suit Kirk's crew, perhaps the ship's old name and number were restored after that crew stepped down, to make way for the new Enterprise.

FWIW to the debate over the Constitution's longevity...the original intent was for Picard's earlier command, the Stargazer, to be a Constitution-class ship...the reason it was changed was the usual bit about not wanting to use the hero ship from the films elsewhere. They named the new design the "Constellation-class" so that the word could be easily dubbed over where the actors had been filmed called it a "Constitution".